India, Feb. 24 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unearthed a large-scale illegal sand mining racket operating in Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Vidarbha, allegedly using fabricated Electronic Transit Permits (ETPs) from Madhya Pradesh to pass off illegally excavated sand as legally sourced material. The agency has pegged the proceeds of crime at over Rs.30 crore.

According to ED officials, multiple organised networks extracted sand from river ghats in and around Nagpur and Bhandara despite restrictions on mining. The syndicates allegedly procured fake ETPs purportedly issued for mining and transport operations in Madhya Pradesh, enabling them to show on paper that the sand originated from leased ghats in the neighbouring state. ...